Antenna



R. CAMERON March 27, 1934.

ANTENNA Filed July 27, 1927 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATH FFlCh 1 Claim.

This invention relates to communication by means of radiant energy, and particularly to antennee for radio telephone and telegraph receiving and sending apparatus. It is further the nature of an improvementupon the invention disclosed in my prior copending application Serial No. 154,416, filed December 13, 1926.

An object of this invention is to improve, simplify, and make more practical antenna: of the type disclosed and claimed in my said prior copending application.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved antenna with which the intensity of signals obtained will be a maximum on all of the broadcasting ranges of wave lengths or frequencies; and with which tuning of the antenna circuit may be broadened without loss of signal strength.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved antenna for accomplishing each of these objects, which will be exceptionally compact; which will require a minimum of material for construction; which may be easily assembled by inexperienced persons and without the use of tools; which will give a maximum or" signal strength, and which may be taken down in a simple manner, when desired, for shipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved antenna which may be packed, shipped and sold in a knocked-down condition, and easily assembled by the purchaser without special tools, and which will be relatively inexpensive.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective of an antenna construcied in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the supporting member by which the arms are attached to the main post; and

Fig. 4 is a plan of the same.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a post or standard 1 is utilized as the main support, and for that purpose may be attached its lower end in any suitable manner to a sup porting object, such as the peak of a roof, as shown by dash lines in Fig. l. A. supporting, or arm attaching, member shown separately in Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with a central aperture 3 of a size and shape to fit closely over the upper end of the post i and slide along the same to a position intermediate the ends of the vertical post, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

fhis member 2 is provided with a plurality of sockets 4 opening outwardly and laterally therefrom in opposite directions, so as to radiate from the post 1 upon which the supporting member may be These sockets 4 may be formed in lateral extensions of the member 2 and are a tight fit, ends of radia'*- cy the member 2 and the post 1, and radiate in a plurality of opposite directions from this main post 1. The supporting member 2 may be in the to 111 of a casting, and for simplicity the sockets To provide the necessary s rength, webs 6 may be provided between the sides of adjacent extensions the sockets l. 7

The posts 1 and the arms 5 may all. be provided with transverse grooves or slots 7, these slots being oblique to the face in which they are cut, and being inclined somewhat towards the supporting member on the post 1. That is, all of v the grooves or slots 7 provided on the post 1 above the supporting member 2 will extend inwardly and downwardly, and those below the member 2 will extend inwardly and upwardly. Similarly, those each 5 will extend inwardly and toward center, that is, toward the post 1.

wfll be noted that the arms 5 extend in opposite directions from the post 1, and each pair of oppositely extendin arms cooperates with the thereon an elec-fical wire or conductor 9. Since four radiating have been illustrated way of example as the preferred embodiment, the slots '7 in one face of the post will cooperate with the slots 7 in one face of oppositely extend- 7 arms 5, and the slots '3 of the other face of r of arms 5 for the support of another loop or coil 8 which extends, in this particular example, ght angles to the first coil or loop 8 which is mounted upon the other arms and the post. conductor or wire forming each loop or coil 8 is preferably provided with suitable insulation, preferably one which is weatherproof when exposed to outside atmosphere and storms, and the slots or grooves 7 are of such a width that this wire or conductor 9 will it rather snugly or tight 1y therein when forced laterally into the same.

One end of each wire or conductor 9 is suitably anchored, such providing a knot in the end of the same and the Wire started through one 110 of the slots 7 in the post, or one of the arms 5, near the support member 2, that is, in the center of a desired loop or coil. Each wire or conductor 9 is then wound in a substantially vertical plane by attaching it to the arms or" one of the pairs of arms 5 and the post, successively so that the wire will be wound progressively from an inner point outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the loop or coil 8 shown n elevation in Fi 2, the wire or conductor 9 is anchored in the slot or groove 7 in the front face of a post 1 just above the supporting member 2, extends therefrom latorally, and passes through the slot or nearest groove 7 in an adjacent arm 5, thence downwardly through the groove 7 in the same face of the post 1 at a point nearest the center, and so on, between the arms and post progressively, the terminal end of the wire or conductor 9 being secured in the last groove or slot 7 through which it passes. This last end may be anchored also in any suitable manner, such as by a knot in the conductor. Since the wires 9 are forced into the slots or grooves rather snugly and are drawn taut, the successive turns or stretches of the wire Will be held out of contact with one another, and by their tautness will hold the arms 5 within the sockets 4., and the member 2 against endwise movement along the post 1.

The other loop or coil 8 utilizing the other pair of arms and the post 1 is wound in a similar mannor, the two planes of the coils and loops intersecting one another at approximately right angles to one another so as to be in more or less inductive relation to one another, although both coils or loops are conductively open. The outer ends of the wires of the two loops may be connected by lead wires 10 to a common lead-in wire or conductor 11 running to any radio set (not shown), so that the two conductively open coils are in effect connected in parallel to one another at one end, and are also in more or less inductive relation to one another.

The arms 5 are also preferably of greater length than the wire supporting sections of the post above and below the intermediate point of the post at which the support member 1 is located, so that the two coils or loops 8 which are formed will have considerably greater breadth or horizontal spread than height or vertical spread, the coils in effect resembling vertical rhomboids with their major axes or diagonals approximately horizontal. When the vertical dimensions of the coils or loops are equal to or greater than the horizontal dimensions, I have found that great signal strength is obtained on the wave lengths from approximately 4.08 meters up, but that the signal strength is not so great on wave lengths below approximately 400 meters. I have further found that by forming the coils with a horizontal width or spread greater than their vertical height or spread, great signal strength is obtained for waves of the lower wave l ngths of the present broadcasting bands, that is of the wave lengths below approximately 400 meters, and without loss of s 'cngth for waves above 40o meters in length.

One difficulty with antenna, such as disclosed in said prior copending applications, has been the great sharpness in tuning, which in many was so great that users of radio receiving sets equipped with this invention would be unable to tune in certain stations. I have found that by incr-eas ng the horizontal spread or" the coils or loops accordance with this invention, the tuning is broaden d, and as a result, the users of radio sets equipped with such improved antenna are able to pick up many stations which they formerly passed over unknowingly because of the previous great sharpness of tuning.

If the loops are of equal, ver ical and horizontal spread, I have found that considerably more wire must be used in order to have turns in the loops or coils sufficient to obtain desired volume or signal. strength, and this has made the tuning of one dial receiving sets entirely too sharp for the average, unskilled operators of such sets. By providing greater horizontal spread and cutting down the vertical spread of the loops or coils, in accordance with this invention, I am able to decrease the amount of wire required for each loop which not only reduces the cost of the antenna, but broadens the tuning without material loss in signal strength. An antenna of this type receives equally well, radio signal waves com,- ing from all directions.

It will be observed that since the only connection required between the post and the arms is the supporting member 2, the arms, posts, the supp-or member 2, the stretches of wire for the two coils or loops may be advantageously sold and shipped a knoclz down or unassemoutfit in a very compact package. To assemble such an outfit, the purchaser merely places he supp g member 2 over the post 1 and slides into the intermediate position shown in Fig. between the upper and lower sets of slots or rooves '7 thereof. The arms are then inserted n the sockets 4, the stretches of wire wound upon he arms 5 and the post 1 to form the two coils loops, after which the lead-in connections 10 n v1e common lead-in wire 11 may be atached. During such assembly no tools are reuired, and since the wire of the loops or coils of the insulated type, the use of special insuatcrs on the arms and posts will be unnecessary. Such an antenna exceptionally inexpensive for th reason that the post 1 and the arms 5 may be made of wood or other inexpensive material, the supporting member 2 may be a single casting of suitable metal, such as aluminum.

In admtion to the above features, the improved antenna herein disclosed includes a special relation between the conductors and also in connection with the support. The coil convolutions of each con uctor lie in the same plane and have a common axis, while the axes of both conductors lie the same plane in crossed angular relation. These conductors are further spaced and independent of each other and have corresponding coils arranged in adjacent crossed relation, the respective coils of each conductor being interthreaded relative to one another in order to secure the adjacent crossing of corresponding convolutions.

It will be further noted that the post or standard l is specially constructed so that it has a plain central or intermediate portion over which the cket member positioned, while the standat opposite sides of this portion is provided with slots incline: toward this central portion. Two groups of slots are formed in the standard in this manner, one group facing laterally from the other arranged in offset relation thereto. The special construction of the socket member also forms a principal feature of the invention in conjunction with the special structure of the standard and the supporting arms, resulting in the production of a special combination of parts from which a support for the coiled conductors disclosed herein can be formed in a very simple and. expedient manner, each part cooperating with the other to facilitate the convenience and simplicity of construction and assembly of the antenna.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A radio antenna comprising a supporting post, a socket member detachably surrounding an intermediate portion of said post, a plurality of arms extending radially from said post and hav- RICHARD CAMERON. 

